New planting but water/drainage issue. (Hoping to plant 8 fruit trees in western MA)

[stevebz]

I had someone from Conway School of Design come in and do a plan for a 1/4 acre we had cleared. The idea was to create a small fruit tree orchard. One of the things she did was a soil test. Sand/silt/clay with good drainage was the conclusion. So a month ago I ordered 8 trees from Fedcoseeds and started digging by hand 3 foot wide, 2ft deep holes. Immediately they filled half way with water. I dug more holes more places (with a post hole digger this time) and ran into water leaving anywhere from 12” to 20” of space before water pools. It’s rained a couple of times and the holes partially refill. (I just scooped thirty 3.5gal pails of water from the various holes). The 8 trees are wrapped in plastic and cardboard in the garage. Should I give up? Should I build 6” to 12” mounds at all the sites? Any advice? I’ve been planning for this for a year!!! Dealing with disappointment here.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

Around here 2ft is extremely deep to plant anything and we have well drained soil

Pictures could be helpful. Basically you want the tree roots to remain in the top soil and not get into waterlogged anaerobic conditions.

Mounds aren't a bad idea if your soil is a swamp but it somewhat depends what you're growing. My brother has an apple that will grow in standing water, but that's atypical for the species.

But it doesn't sound like your soil is a swamp, the top foot is okay. Plant them in the top foot

When you get trees with long roots you want them spread horizontally not vertically

 

[stevebz]

Around here 2ft is extremely deep to plant anything and we have well drained soil

Pictures could be helpful. Basically you want the tree roots to remain in the top soil and not get into waterlogged anaerobic conditions.

Mounds aren't a bad idea if your soil is a swamp but it somewhat depends what you're growing. My brother has an apple that will grow in standing water, but that's atypical for the species.

But it doesn't sound like your soil is a swamp, the top foot is okay. Plant them in the top foot

When you get trees with long roots you want them spread horizontally not verticall4-5 days ago, the holes

 

[stevebz]

Thank you for the thoughts. It has rained fairly hard here twice in the past 3-4 days. Water table very high. Squishy to walk on at the moment. Before that, the holes I had dug had any where from 12-20” inches of space before I hit water. I bailed the holes out this morning and they are filling back up, a couple all the way to the surface! Everything I read says you don’t want roots sitting in water. But planting 2 apple, 2 peach, 2 cherry, 2 plum in a foot of soil seems less than ideal. Sounds like you are saying go for it? (I’d send pictures, but of what exactly?)

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

"Man – despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments – owes his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains". - Paul Harvey

If you have a foot of soil that doesn't become anaerobic, that's above average. They will do well. Sometimes the transition to anaerobic is indicated in the soil with gray streaking because the manganese forms nodules in that condition.

I don't know how much rain you've had lately but it is the rainy season and plants can take submerged for a day or two or three but if it is well drained it should firm up pretty fast once it stops raining

If you're unsure and want to play it safe put them on mounds, there's no downside to the plant

The weeds that grow there can give you an idea of the drainage, grass isn't too useful tho but if you see nutsedge it's poorly drained

 

[stevebz]

Thanks again for your help. Might do mounds on a few of the shallower ones. Planted clover and buckwheat and oat in that lot last fall as prep. All grew well and not much in the way of weeds anywhere. Gonna give it a day or two to dry out a bit and then in they go.

 

[oneeye]

Hello and welcome, friend.